Many people have noticed my name and thought, “How cute. Such a wonderful play on words.” But what does it mean? Hunting Forebears?
On the surface it says it all; the hunt for your forebears, or ancestors, but it goes much deeper than that.
What is it to Hunt?
When that time of year rolls around down here in the south and hunting season opens, there is a lot of preparation that occurs before going out to bag that big buck. You plan for hours; preparing your tools, make certain your gun is ready, sharpen your knives, ensure you have warm clothing and enough ice to cool down the meat. Before that though you must determine where you are going to hunt, buy your hunting license, update yourself on the local and state laws, and if you are in Texas, build your deer stand.
The day, or night, before you leave for the camp you make sure all your equipment is loaded up safely, you have enough beer for the weekend, and your wife is not angry with you for leaving her with the children, unless they all go with you.
Once out in the field and in your deer stand you wait, scanning the tree line for any movement or sign of deer. You may get lucky, or you may not. If a deer arrives you have to make that one shot count, and if you do you drag it back to camp to dress it out so the meat is usable to you and your family.
Hunting in Genealogy
Genealogy is not much different from a deer hunt. Before hunting your forebears you must prepare for that hunt.
You must gather all the information you have, determine what you need to look for, consider the resources you are going to need, and decide where you are going to search for that information.
On the day you go out to your “hunt” you make sure you have previous research on hand to compare with your findings, ensure you have enough money for copies, if needed, and make sure you wife is not angry with you for leaving her with the children, unless, of course, they all go with you as well.
See, not that much different.
Upon arrival at the repository, whether out in the field or online, you carefully scan the documents until you find that ancestor. Again, sometimes you are lucky, sometimes not. Once you find the information you are looking for you make sure it is accurate and exactly who you are looking for.
As soon as the information is gathered you take it back to your genealogy cave, prepare the facts, and place it in your family history correctly with proper citations and notations so that your family can enjoy it years later.
Other Types of Hunting
There is another type of hunting that occurs, both for game and for genealogy. I call it squirrel hunting.
In this type of hunt you simply pull out your shotgun, go out to the woods, watch for a squirrel, and then fire. A shotgun sends a blast of tiny pellets out, effectively killing it, but shreds the meat. You pull out your pocket knife to dress it, but then you spend your time pulling the little pellets out of the meat before you and your family can enjoy that one meal.
In genealogy a squirrel hunt is using a shotgun approach locating the forebear, effectively finding the ancestor or someone similar, and shredding the facts or information. You pick through the information, throwing out the little pellets that do not fit, and create something that is only good for the short term.
Hunting Forebears is a big game hunt. It takes preparation, skill, and a lot of practice. In the end you have a forebear in your family history that provides for many years and many generations rather than that one, single fact that does not stand the test of time.
Let’s all Hunt Forebears!
